Adjustable oscillating needle-clamp for sewing-machines



(No Model.)

R. S. LOOKER. 4 ADJUSTABLE OS GILLATING NEEDLE CLAMP FOR SEWING MACHINES.

Patentd Sept. 21, 1886..

W 4 W KW Wag/54 1C W I] "illlllllll" NIKE??? emf. 1W 7 UNITED STATES PATE T QFFICEQ ROBERT SMITH LOOKER,

or SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.

ADJUSTABLE OSCILLATING NEEDLE-CLAMP FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 349,441, dated September 21, 1886.

Application filed December I, 1883. Renewed August 4, 1886. Serial No. 210,032. (No model.)

To all wh'om, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ROBERT SMITH LOOKER, of Springfield, in the county of Clark and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Adjustable Oscillating Needle-Clamps for Sewing-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification.

My invention relates to a novel device whereby the needle maybe temporarily placed out of its working position; to provide safe and convenient access to the shuttle; to enable the work to be readily removed or replaced from the machine, and to give convenient access to the point of the needle for threading it; and

the improvement consists in a novel manner of connecting the needle to the end of the needle-bar, whereby the needle may be placed out of its working position temporarily and restored to said position without affecting its adjustment upon the needle-bar. The needle and its clamp may be completely removed from the needle-bar,when desired, and restored thereto without affecting the adjustment of the needle relatively either to the needle-bar,

' throat-plate, or shuttle, by providing a peculiar clamp to which the needle may be secured, said clamp being arranged to swing or oscillate upon the end of the needle-bar and be removable therefrom, the means for securing the needle to the clamp being such that they may always be held in the same relation to each other when connected together.

My invention also relates to a novel means for adjusting the needle upon the end of the needle-bar, to fix the point of the needle in proper relation to the face of the shuttle, and to admit of said adjustment to suit needles of different sizes; and the improvement consists in providing a face-plate, either secured as a head to the needle-clamp or as an independent washer, formed with a series of radial grooves of unequal size and depth upon its face, in which the end of the needle may be clamped, as will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an end elevation of a needle-arm head, showing a needle secured to the needle-bar, by my improved clamp when held out of its working position; Fig. 2, an enlarged elevation of the needle-bar, and Fig. 5 a face view of the end of i a needle-bar and clampsocket, showing a modification of the means for securing said parts together.

In Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 the needle-bar Ais made with an enlarged socket, a, either bored and reamed in the end of the bar itself or secured to the end of said bar by screwing or dovetailing it thereto, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, or by riveting, clamping, orotherwise connecting said parts-in any well-known manner. The clamp is formed of a sleeve, B, provided with a flanged end or face plate, 0, that is clamped within a countersunk recess formed in one side of the needle bar, by means of a nut, D, screwed upon the end of the sleeve to bear against the other side of the needle-bar. The bore, of the socket a and the outersurface of the sleeve B are preferably tapered to secure a closer and stronger connection at all times. The face-plate G of the sleeve B is formed with grooves c c c of dif feringwidth and depth, into which needles of varying sizes may be held and securely clamped by a bolt, E, that passes longitudinally through the sleeve, and is formed with a hole through its shank and a groove upon the inner surface of its head, through and into which the needle H passes, and is held securely into and against any one of the grooves in the face-plate of the sleeve. A nut, E, upon-the end of the bolt serves to hold it securely to the sleeve, and the said nut E maybe of a diameter less than that of the sleeve to permitthe clamp to be removed from the needle-barwithoutloosening or varying the position of the needle therein by simply removing the nut D from the end of the sleeve. By simply loosening the nut D the clamp may be oscillated in its socket and the needle moved or swung to any required angle or into a horizontal position to afford safe and convenient access to the shuttle, to permit the work to be removed or I adjusted beneath the arm-head without danger of injuring the fingers with the needle or breaking the needle, and by which means the point of the needle may be placed in any required light and position to permit it to be easily threaded. The radial grooves c c c in the face-plate are of different sizes and depths, so that either of them may be placed in a vertical position to receive the needle and permit it to be adjusted relatively to the face of the shuttle to suit needles of different sizes and shapes. A springcatch, F, secured to the needle-bar engages with a notch in the periphery of the face-plate or head of the clamp, and secures the clamp to the needle-bar at all times in their proper relative position.

The needlebar extension may be fitted upon and clamped to the needle-bar in any desired manner that will admit of its removal and replacement without affecting the adjustment of the needle; and it is deemed unnecessary to illustrate other methods of'securing the object of the invention, as I do notlimitmyself to the specific means herein described for effecting this object.

I attach importance to the feature of the construction which allows the entire clamp and needle to be removed from the needle-bar without changing the adjustment of the needle in the clamp, and to the feature which provides a seat for needles of various sizes in the clamp.

I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination of a needle-bar, with a bushing screw-threaded on its outer surface,a bolt passing through said bushing, and set- .nuts, by which the needle is held between the head of said bolt and the bushing and the bush ing is clamped to the needlebar, whereby the clamp may be loosened from the needle-bar without disengaging the needle or affecting the relation between the needle and the clamp, substantially as described.

2. In combination with a needle-bar, as described, a needle-clamp having grooves of various sizes, and adapted to hold the needles of different sizes adjustably to the bar, and to be disconnected from the bar without loosening the hold of the clamp upon the needle, as set forth.

3. In combination with the needle-bar and needle-clamp constructed as described, and with notches arranged upon the periphery of said clamp, aspring-catch, as F, secured to the needle-bar and serving to engage the clamp, as herein specified.

4. The combination,with the needle-bar A, having asocket, a,of the sleeve B, having plate (J with grooves c c c of various sizes, the thumb-nut D, for removably securing the said sleeve to the needle-bar, and connections for securing the needle to the plate 0, as set forth.

5. The combination, with the needle-bar A, having socket a, the sleeve B, having plate or disk 0 with grooves c c c of different sizes, and nut D, arranged as described, of the screw E, nut E, and spring-catch F, as and for the purposes specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 27th day of November, A. D. 1883.

ROBERT SMITH LOOKER.

\Vitnesses:

WM. H. RowE, J AMES K. MOCATHRAN. 

